


Inheritance

by ReneeoftheStars



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Vader's helmet, vader's mask
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-11 00:26:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13512924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReneeoftheStars/pseuds/ReneeoftheStars
Summary: Ben Solo has destroyed his uncle's attempt to create a New Jedi Order. Currently apprenticed to Snoke, Ben seeks an object that belonged to his most powerful ancestor: Darth Vader. Perhaps, if Ben can find what remains of the Dark Lord, he will gain a deeper understanding of what the Force has in store for him...





	Inheritance

**Author's Note:**

> Written for tumblr blog finish-the-clone-wars' writing wednesday prompt: Lost Relic

Night had closed in around him, leaving Ben Solo tripping over roots and ferns as he scrambled through a dense thicket of trees. Sweat coated his brow and his hand shook as he went to wipe it away. He’d been on this blasted moon for three days, and he still hadn’t found what he sought. He hadn’t been prepared to spend night after night out in the open; every rustling branch and animal cry had jolted him awake, leaving his eyes bloodshot and his body tired.

Briefly, he considered turning back towards his ship and leaving this forest far behind. His hands clenched convulsively, as though bracing for the punishment that would come from abandoning his quest. Snoke would not take his empty-handed return lightly.

_It’s not as though he needs it,_ Ben considered, picking his way around a clump of thorns. _I gave myself this task. He expects me to be able to complete it. I must prove that I can follow through_.

His training with Snoke these last two years had been…difficult. Whereas life in Uncle Luke’s – in Skywalker’s temple had been one of reflection and serenity, Snoke’s training had emphasized the power and resolve needed to control the galaxy. The difference in teaching methods was stark.

But Ben didn’t think that the end result was much different. After all, Skywalker had been ready to use his power to destroy the one person that was a threat, wasn’t he? With a surge of anger, Ben raised a hand and used the Force to snap a young tree in half. He stalked past the splintered sapling and continued on. No, he would not leave Endor. Not yet.

An abrupt hush descended around him. He froze, trying to silence his own breaths as he listened. The last time this had happened, a massive condor dragon had broken through the trees and almost finished him off. The time before that, a hunting party of Duloks ambushed him. The forest life had its own way of signaling danger, and silence was its final warning. Ben reached for his lightsaber – only to remember yet again that he no longer had one. Snoke had taken the lightsaber Ben made as a boy and cast it into the fires of Mustafar, with the assurance that he would construct a new one once he’d furthered his training. Ben felt the saber’s absence like a missing limb.

He stayed still, hands raised, readying himself to fend off anything that attacked – but the attack never came. For several minutes he stood there, waiting, but nothing lunged out of the darkness at him.

Frowning, Ben reached out with the Force, wondering what caused –

_It’s here._

The dark side saturated the air, soaking into the trees and permeating the ground. Now he understood why the forest was silent here – it was afraid.

He opened himself up to it, let it fill him. Anger, pain, despair rose in him, and he followed it, winding through the trees, letting it draw him deeper until –

The trees ended suddenly, spilling him out into a small clearing. There was some sense of the Force here that Ben couldn’t make sense of. The dark side was here, yes, full of loathing and coldness and rage, but there was also…relief? Peace? But that was not what he was here for. Ben shut out the remnants of the light side and strode forward.

He felt himself drawn to the far side of the clearing, to a small mound covered in overgrowth. Heart hammering as he knelt, Ben brushed aside ferns.

Beneath the greenery, a solid grey mass lay undisturbed. Faded from black, the intricate mechanisms that kept its inhabitant alive were long-dead. Burned, just like Skywalker had said, an empty shell after the body had vanished into the Force.

Hands shaking, Ben pried the helmet and mask from the dirt that had piled around it. It came away with a groan. He raised it up, holding it reverently as he stared into the optical lenses.

_So this is Darth Vader. This is the Dark Lord of the Sith, the one who brought an end to the weak Jedi Order. He took his fate into his own hands and gained powers others could only dream of._ Ben gazed at the mask in awe. He could feel the residual power still contained in the mask, could sense its presence even after its bearer had been dead for more than twenty years.

This was Ben’s legacy. This was his _destiny_. This is what Snoke spoke of: the mighty Skywalker line.

A sudden twinge of doubt. His uncle had always told him of Vader’s final moments, how the Sith redeemed himself and embraced the light side. But how could that be true? Ben could feel the hate infused in every atom of the mask – how could Anakin Skywalker have ever turned away from this? How could he have found peace?

Ben gulped, expelling the weak notion from his mind. With effort, he stood. The wind picked at his tunic as he placed the mask with utmost care into his satchel. Slinging it onto his back, he turned and began striding back in the direction of his ship.

_Ben._

Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw something shimmer. He swung around, wide-eyed as he peered through the darkness. There was nothing but a pile of plating and the hiss of the wind.

Goosebumps on his arms, he hiked back the way he’d come. The helmet sat heavily in his pack. He didn’t hear a single living creature the remainder of trek.


End file.
